Mired in high-interest debt, a top executive at a real estate developer in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, committed suicide late last month, and its biggest shareholder is on the run, the China Business News reported Thursday.

Saddled with an estimated 260 million yuan in debt, Wang Fujin, the second biggest shareholder and legal representative of Zhongfu Real Estate Co., a property developer in the resource rich city of 1.5 million, committed suicide on Sept. 24.

Hao Xiaojun, the developer's largest shareholder, is believed to have fled the city before Wang's death. Zhongfu said Hao "has been out seeking medical treatment for some time and cannot return to the company."

Worried creditors estimate Zhongfu has borrowed 260 million yuan using informal, high-interest loans. They said they have filed a case with the local government office in charge of investigating illegal fundraising activities, seeking payment on outstanding debts.

The developer used about 40 million yuan for its coal transportation and trade businesses. The rest of the funds went to real estate projects, where most of the money was used to provide advances to home buyers worth as much as 70 percent of the house. Because banks haven't yet approved many of these buyers' applications for loans, the developer ran out of money to pay its creditors and has since suspended operations.

China's business press carried the story above on Thursday.

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